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6. γενομένης δὲ τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης, and when this sound was heard. Φωνή though not the same word as ἦχος which is used for sound in Act 2:2, yet is never found in the sense of a report or rumour, as is given by the A.V. It is used for crying aloud, as in the mourning at Rama and Christ’s cry on the cross (Mat 2:18), or in John the Baptist’s preaching (Mar 1:3), and of voices from heaven frequently (Mat 17:5; Mar 1:11; Luk 3:22; Act 9:4, &c.), of the sound of the wind which is used as a figure for the gift of the Spirit in Christ’s conversation with Nicodemus (Joh 3:8), and constantly of the heavenly voices in the book of the Revelation (Act 1:10, Act 5:2, Act 6:6, &c.). So in the LXX. we have φωνή with σάλπιγγος, βροντῆς, σεισμοῦ, and such like words, all indicating a loud noise.
The sound which was sent forth, though heard around in the city, was evidently such as could be traced to a central spot, for led by the sound, the multitude came together to the room in which the Apostles were assembled. It would need but a brief space for a crowd to gather, and all the new-comers found among the disciples, now divinely prepared to be Christ’s heralds, some who were declaring what had come to pass, and the great things which God had wrought with them, in the different languages of the lands where the strangers had been born. This was clearly not a proclamation of the wonderful works of God in some one language, which the Spirit, acting upon the hearers, caused them to appreciate as if it were their own, for in that way the gift of the Holy Ghost ought to have been described as poured out, not on the speakers, but on the listeners.
ἤκουον. The verb is plural, in consequence of the plural idea contained in πλῆθος, though the verbs in immediate connexion with the noun are singular. For πλῆθος joined directly with a plural cf. Luk 23:1 ἃπαν τὸ πλῆθος ἤγαγον αὐτόν. See also Acta Apocryph. Philip. 7 πολὺ πλῆθος ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποφυγόντες ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ ἐπεστρέφοντο ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν.
εἷς ἕκαστος is explanatory and distributive, and not to be regarded as a direct nominative to the verb. So too in Act 2:8, and also Act 11:29.